On Tyrese Haliburton's flair for flare screens

How the player who is still working to regain his All-Star form enhances the star in others with off-ball actions (that actually really do exist in today's NBA)

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

Despite the fact that this past weekend was All-Star Weekend, neither the All-Stars nor the All-Star Game were exactly the center of attention. Instead, there was a very strange cognitive dissonance between asking the players to take the game more seriously while also having a comedian courtside who was mocking the current state of the game. Meanwhile, in keeping with that general theme of the product being less the problem than how the product is packaged, Draymond Green had a quote go viral from media availability in which he referred to today's NBA as "very boring," saying, "It's just who can run faster, who can hit more threes. It's no substance. I think it's very boring."

Eddie Johnson, who played in the NBA for 17 years and currently works as a color analyst for the Phoenix Suns, added to that sentiment via a post on X, writing:

"Draymond is 100% right. We run one play 95% of the time. Pick and roll, pick and space, pick and target. Off the ball plays are non-existent. Players are being used like robots and given a title, 3 and D, what the heck is that. I was a ball player. The physicality is gone." 

To each their own as far as preferred play-style and play-types, but very little of what's asserted there can be supported by facts. While still the most prolific play-type, the pick-and-roll isn't as prevalent as it used to be. This season, the NBA is setting 65.4 ball-screens per 100 possessions, which is the lowest average in Second Spectrum's 12-year database. Conversely, the league's average pick-up distance is currently 42.0 feet, which is the highest distance in Second Spectrum's 12-year database.

The rationale for why the NBA has started shifting away from the pick-and-roll has been covered. Louis Zatzman, who joined Samson Folk and I for our definitive Pacers-Bucks preview during the playoffs, wrote about the impact of switching and the two-step between offense and defense to explain the dip at SB Nation. My friend Joey Wolfond at The Score talked to numerous coaches around the league about how teams are tailoring schemes to personnel groups that increasingly feature playmaking big men to expound on why modern offenses are putting a twist on old school tactics at the expense of the pick-and-roll, and I also dabbled on the topic with regard to the Pacers, explaining how for a league that practices pick-and-roll defense more than anything and is applying un(press)cedented amounts of full-court pressure, long-run ball-screens that allow the screener defender extra time to call out the coverage are becoming archaic.

Since Tyrese Haliburton was traded to Indiana, the Pacers have gone from averaging 91.4 picks per 100 possessions over his first 26 games at the end of the 2021-22 season to 76.2 the following the year, 73.6 in 2023-24, and now, 71.9. That steady dip obviously can't all be explained by replacing long-run screens with pitches. There have been other concurrent changes, including the addition of Pascal Siakam, who provides the team with a much-needed knuckleball, with his ability to attack out of the post and in isolation. Plus, as Haliburton has been increasingly confronted by exaggerated coverages as an attempt to counteract his ability to dictate pace, whether with physicality, face-guarding, or weaking, he's quietly become one of the highest volume off-ball movers with respect to flare screens in the entire NBA.

On the season, according to Second Spectrum, Haliburton has run off a total of 91 flare screens as the cutter, which is second only to Miami's Tyler Herro (100). For the sake of reference, that's more than what has been logged by the Memphis Grizzlies (88), Oklahoma City Thunder (71), and Milwaukee Bucks (71) -- as teams.

Needless to say, for anyone who prefers seeing off-ball movement or wants to gain a better understanding of how teams build out actions, beyond just the pick-and-roll or in support of the pick-and-roll, to their base plays, then this simple flare action out of 5-out for Haliburton should serve as both a perfect example and explainer.

Coming out of what the Pacers refer to as "sideline," the play typically begins with Haliburton dribbling the ball up the right side of the floor to make a pass to the player at the wing. After completing that pass, he then receives a flare screen from the five-man at the top of the key to fade toward his left, where the player at the weak-side wings clears out for a shoot or drive decision.

It's somewhat curious how often the Pacers run that play for Haliburton to move to his left, given that he passes out of 55.1 percent of his drives in that direction. There, he was arguably a bit premature reacting to the help from Isaiah Stewart, when he maybe could've pressed the issue at the rim, but he's been incredibly choosy with his shot-selection in the restricted area this season.

Whether due to lack of burst and/or acceleration after managing back soreness and hamstring injuries, he hasn't turned the corner on defenders as often, as he's attempted just 12 percent of his shots at the rim, marking the lowest rate of his career. That number hasn't rebounded, either. Even as the team has improved, going 20-8 over their last 28 games, Haliburton has still only attempted 11 percent of his shots at the rim while posting a blowby rate of just 23.7 percent over that span, compared to 28.2 percent last season. Some of that can be attributed to changes in spacing (bye, Buddy), increased physicality, or not always being able to leverage the threat of his shot from the perimeter, but there are still too many instances when he can be seen moving perpendicular to the rim.

As such, the way in which the Pacers play him into space and move in relation to when he moves has been critical. Here, for example, when Haliburton fades to his left, he's able to feed Andrew Nembhard under the basket on the clear out.

More often than not, with Haliburton's defender pressing up on him and fighting through the screen, the driving lane to his left isn't actually available. Instead, the flare screen essentially becomes a device to set up the ball-screen going back to his dominant hand. The only problem is, as can be seen here against the Utah Jazz, that typically engages the player at the nail, walling off yet another driving lane.

As was laid out in a previous article, Bennedict Mathurin isn't the quickest trigger shooter when playing out of reads by comparison to sets, as he has a tendency to turn open shots into more difficult shots or non-shots. At times, that can be part of the disconnect between playing him with Haliburton. Put simply, what's good for Mathurin isn't always good for playing random offense in the half-court, and what's good for playing random offense in the half-court, isn't always good for Mathurin. That's why he thrived as a focal point off the bench against the Wizards. He got to play out of sets, including when he played himself into the closing lineup (for good reason) with Haliburton and Siakam lining up to him as the closer.

That said, he isn't always going to have the hot hand to warrant those types of adjustments with both stars on the floor, which is why the off-ball movement (which exists, REALLY!) in conjunction with the pick-and-roll matters. Look at the difference here, when the ball is moving toward Nembhard at the wing. To put stress on the nail defender, he almost always automatically cuts down to the short corner.

See how that creates space for Haliburton to get downhill, even against the late-switch? Well, for those who prefer off-ball actions to the pick-and-roll, the Pacers have also progressed to a variety in which the two work in tandem with each other. Just look at this possession against the Clippers. After Haliburton fades off the flare screen, he tosses the ball back to Turner. Rather than receiving a ball screen, he flows into rejected split action with Mathurin, who then clears out for Haliburton and Turner to play two-man game.

Once again, when the ball moves toward Nembhard, he automatically cuts down to the short corner. This time, turning his cut into a corner pin-in screen for a cut-and-dried three-point attempt from Mathurin.

Of course, while demonstrating the value of preceding the pick-and-roll with off-ball actions and also enhancing it with off-ball cutting, that flare action out of 5-out isn't the only way in which the Pacers incorporate flare screens for Haliburton. When feeding Pascal Siakam in the post from the top of the key, they will simultaneously lift Haliburton up from the weak-side corner with a flare screen.

Because the ball is being entered to Siakam from a center, that means the low-man is already a smaller guard, who now has to choose between providing help on the post-up or sticking with Haliburton. In those instances, when a quick high seal is available, the pick-and-roll is never even featured (gasp!).

All of which is to say that, whether to pull and tug at the defense with Haliburton, as the best movement shooter on the team, or for Haliburton, as he continues to find his way finding the rim, modern offenses -- such as the Pacers, who rank seventh in offensive rating over the last 28 games, haven't shirked off-ball actions and movement in favor of the pick-and-roll. More accurately, they've added flavor to the pick-and-roll with off-ball actions and movement, not only for their pick-and-roll engine but also in service to their post-up star.

Haliburton wasn't an All-Star this season; however, unlike the the way in which the NBA game is all too often packaged, his movement quietly plays a part in bringing out and enhancing the star in others.